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AfroSolo proudly salutes Dr. Stephanie Anne Johnson for being selected to perform her one woman show Every Twenty-One Days: Cancer, Yoga, and Me in the Los Angeles Women’s Theatre Festival, March 2015. Stephanie performed the world premier of this show in AfroSolo’s Black Voices Performance Series in September 2014. It’s a wonderful show that is funny, upbeat, poignant, and inspirational. It’s about her diagnosis and conquering of ovarian cancer. If you didn’t get a chance to see her in AfroSolo, LA is not that far away. The LAWTF is run by former Bay Area theatre artist Adilah Barnes.

“Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane.”– MLK. in a speech to the Medical Committee for Human Rights, 1966

To ensure that our community has access to quality medical care, our goal is to provide a gateway to medical personnel, key medical screenings, (such as cholesterol, blood pressure, body fat, glucose, eye and dental), and host up to forty health related information tables in an upbeat culturally sensitive environment. In doing so, we endeavor to enhance to over-all health of the community. The event will include a live performance by Oakland Public Conservatory of Music’s marimba ensemble “ZimFuse.” We will also have face portraits, face painting, youth activities, and prize drawings.

We will see you tomorrow at the FREE Yerba Buena Gardens Festival! Join AfroSolo at 1pm on 3rd/4th Mission St. in San Francisco. We’re so excited to kick off the to AfroSolo Theatre Company Arts Festival, starting with a Tribute to Paul Robeson.

Before we see you on Saturday for the FREE concert at Yerba Buena Gardens, you’ll want to get to know our artists!

Anthony Brown

Anthony Brown | www.anthonybrownbaritone.net Anthony Brown is a critically acclaimed baritone. Besides the standard classical repertoire, he has made a specialty of performing music of the American experience, especially Negro Spirituals. He has lectured widely on the role and function of the Negro Spirituals. “This music, (he notes) graphically captures the deep despair of the soul and offers hope for deliverance from oppression and suffering… People from all over the world connect with this universal theme. The spiritual is truly a testament to the strength and resilience of the human spirit.”

Dr. Carl Blake

Dr. Blake will accompany Brown on piano. Dr. Blake is an internationally acclaimed concert pianist. He holds three degrees in piano performance: the Bachelor of Music (magna cum laude) from Boston University, the Master of Arts from San Jose State University, and the Doctor of Musical Arts from Cornell University. He was the first recipient of the Marian Anderson Young Artist Award (presented by Ms. Anderson herself), that led to a year of private study with Pierre Sancan of the Paris Conservatory of Music. Blake is the recipient of two Fulbright Scholar Awards to teach and perform in Honduras. He has performed three times at Carnegie Hall in New York City, once in Wigmore Hall in London, and has travelled as an Artistic Ambassador for the U.S. Department of State.

Dr. Johnson is an inspirational soprano who captivates audiences with her dynamic vocal artistry and her moving dramatic interpretation. Candace is on the music faculty at the University of California-Berkeley, where she teaches applied voice and a musicology course she designed on Black classical composers and their works. She earned her doctorate in voice performance from the University of Michigan, where she studied with Shirley Verrett and George Shirley. Prior to her current appointment, she was a Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellow in the music department. As a teaching artist, Candace performs opera, recital, and concert works, and specializes in the research and performance of classical works by Black American composers.

In collaboration with Yerba Buena Gardens Festival, AfroSolo Arts Festival presents its fourteenth free concert in Yerba Buena Gardens. Bring a lunch, a blanket and enjoy a wonderful afternoon of music. This year’s concert features Anthony Brown in A Tribute to Paul Robeson, with a focus on Negro Spirituals. He will be accompanied by Dr. Carl Blake. Joining them will be outstanding Candace Johnson, soprano.

A Tribute to Paul RobesonMr. Robeson was a Civil Rights Activist, actor, a stellar athlete, singer and lawyer.
Born on April 9, 1898, in Princeton, New Jersey, Robeson went on to become internationally renowned for his political activism.

Mr. Robeson starred in both stage and film versions of The Emperor Jones and Show Boat, and established an immensely popular screen and singing career. He spoke out against racism and became a world activist, yet was blacklisted during the paranoia of McCarthyism in the 1950s. He died in Pennsylvania in 1976. He remained until his death an advocate of the political stances he took. For more info visit: http://www.biography.com/people/paul-robeson-9460451

Anthony Brown

Anthony Brown | www.anthonybrownbaritone.net
Anthony Brown is a critically acclaimed baritone. Besides the standard classical repertoire, he has made a specialty of performing music of the American experience, especially Negro Spirituals. He has lectured widely on the role and function of the Negro Spirituals. “This music, (he notes) graphically captures the deep despair of the soul and offers hope for deliverance from oppression and suffering… People from all over the world connect with this universal theme. The spiritual is truly a testament to the strength and resilience of the human spirit.”

Carl Blake

Dr. Carl Blake

Dr. Blake will accompany Brown on piano. Dr. Blake is an internationally acclaimed concert pianist. He holds three degrees in piano performance: the Bachelor of Music (magna cum laude) from Boston University, the Master of Arts from San Jose State University, and the Doctor of Musical Arts from Cornell University. He was the first recipient of the Marian Anderson Young Artist Award (presented by Ms. Anderson herself), that led to a year of private study with Pierre Sancan of the Paris Conservatory of Music. Blake is the recipient of two Fulbright Scholar Awards to teach and perform in Honduras. He has performed three times at Carnegie Hall in New York City, once in Wigmore Hall in London, and has travelled as an Artistic Ambassador for the U.S. Department of State.

Dr. Johnson is an inspirational soprano who captivates audiences with her dynamic vocal artistry and her moving dramatic interpretation. Candace is on the music faculty at the University of California-Berkeley, where she teaches applied voice and a musicology course she designed on Black classical composers and their works. She earned her doctorate in voice performance from the University of Michigan, where she studied with Shirley Verrett and George Shirley. Prior to her current appointment, she was a Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellow in the music department. As a teaching artist, Candace performs opera, recital, and concert works, and specializes in the research and performance of classical works by Black American composers.

We are just a few weeks away from kicking off our Arts Festival this year! But without the support from our donors, the AfroSolo Arts Festival would not be possible. We are very thankful for everything our wonderful donors contribute to our organization. Below is a list of some of our donors over the twenty tears!